Hermetically sealed electrical connector

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector for providing a leakproof releasable electrical connection through a wall even over a wide temperature range. The connector has at least one terminal with the terminal including a ceramic annulus having a sleeve secured at one end that is secured to a base of the connector and a cap secured on the other end with a closed tube to which the electrical connection is made extending through the annulus and being secured to the cap.

llnited States Patent 1191 De Koeyer et al. I

[5 HERMETICALLY SEALED ELECTRHCAL CONNECTOR a [75] Inventors: Robert E.De lKoeyer; Marion T.

' Mikita, both of Milford, Conn".

[73] Assignee: Westbort Development &

Manufacturing Company, lnc., Milford, Conn.

22 Filed: Aug. 21, 1972 211 Appl. No.1 282,129

. 521 Us. 01... 339/275 R, 174/152 GM, 339/176 M [51] Int. Cl H01! 5/04[58] Field of Search 174/50.6l, 50.63, 152 GM; 339/94 R, 94 A, 94 M,1.76 R, 176 M, 195 R,

. v 195'L,.195"'M, 196, 275 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 1,281,917 10/1918 Eby. 174/152 GM [451 Dec. 10, 1971 1,957,3895/1934 Case 339/196R 3,346,836. 10/1967 Hellman 339/275 R FOREIGNPATENTS OR APPLICATIONS I 1,490,886 7/1969 Germany 174/152 GM PrimaryExaminer-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner'Lawrence J. Staab Attorney,Agent, or Firm--Ernest M. Junkins 5 7 ABSTRACT An electrical connectorfor providing a leakproof releasable electrical connection through awall. even over a wide temperature range. The connector has at least oneterminal with the terminal including a ceramic annulus having a sleevesecured at one end that is secured to a base of the connector and a capsecured on the other end with a closed tube to which the electricalconnection is made extending through the annulus and being secured to.the cap.

2 Claims, Drawing Figures I ll-IERMETICALLY SEALED ELECTRICAL CONNECTORIn U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,836 assigned to the assignee of the presentinvention there is disclosed a fluid leakproof electrical connector forproviding electrical connections through a wall with the assurance thatthe connector will be leakproof over a wide temperature range andoperating conditions. While such a connector has been found to beextremely satisfactory in operation, it has, however, been found to besomewhat difficult and expensive to manufacture and also to make eachtermicomplete connector may be assembled with greater assurance that itis leakproof than heretofore possible.

A further object of the present invention is to achieve theaboveobjectswith an electrical connector that is more economical and requires lessskill to manufacture than heretofore known terminals. I In carrying outthe present invention, the electrical connector has a tubular shellwhich is secured in an opening in a wall so as to be leakproof therewithand which carries an outer threaded periphery for releasable engagementwith a mating standard connector. In the disclosed embodiment herein,the electrical connector is of the male type and includes one or moreelongate cylindrical terminals positioned within the shell that matewith female terminals of the standard connector to'provide electricalconnection therewith.

Each terminal is formed with an insulating ceramic annulus having asleeve secured at one end, a cap seas by welding to the cap while theother end of the sleeve is secured to a base which in turn is secured toone end of the shell. Accordingly, when a connecting wire is passed intothe interior of the tube and secured therein both mechanically andelectrically by welding closed the exposed end of the tube, anelectrical conhection is made between, the wire on one side of the walland the terminal on the other side. Moreover, as the tube is onlysecured to the cap and as the cap and sleeve are spaced apart on theceramic annulus, the gap on the periphery of the annulus therebetweenserves to electrically insulate thetube from the remainder of theconductor.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is across-section of an electrical connector made according tothe present invention, approximately twice normal size.

FIG. 2 is an end view thereof, partly in section.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the parts forming the connector, somewhatenlarged.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional detail of a portion of a terminal.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of a ceramic annulusthat-is incorporated into each terminal.

Referring to the drawing, the electrical connector of the presentinvention is generally indicated by the reference numeral 10 and isshown secured in an opening formed in a wall 11 which may be the wall ofa container in which it is desired to provideelectrical connectionbetween the interior and exterior thereof in a manner which hermeticallyseals the container over an extremely wide temperature range, as forexample, 65F to +1,000F. While any form of fluid tight mechanicalsecurement may be used, herein the container is shown as having anoutwardly extending flange lla which fits about the periphery of a shell12 of the connector as by a welded joint 13. The shell is threaded as at14 for enabling releasable connection with a mating electrical connectorof standard construction (not shown). The end of the sleeve 12 withinthe interior of the wall 11 is closed by a disk shaped base 15 that iswelded all around as at 16 to the adjacent portions of the shell. Thebase 15', as shown, supports terminals with there being in the presentembodiment three terminals shown though, of course, it will beunderstood that a different number may be employed if desired.Preferably the terminals are arranged on the base according to astandard configuration in order to mate with standardized connectors.For each terminal, the base is formed with a through aperture 17 towhich is secured all around as by welding 18, the end of a sleeve 19.

Referring to FIG. 4, the sleeve 19 has its other end secured as bywelding 20 to a metalized portion 21 of an alumina ceramic annulus 22.The other end of the annulus 22, is alsometalized as at 23 for enablingsecurement as be welding 24, a cap 25 having the shape shown. Theannulus 22 is formed to have a through hole which is also metalized,through which a tube 26 extends with the latter being secured as bywelding 27 to the cap 25 and down into the through hole of the ceramicannulus to provide a strong welded joint.

After each terminal has been formed and secured by weldingl8 to the base15 the connector 10 is assembled by initially positioning within theshell a terminal spacer 28 against a ledge 29 formed internally in thesleeve 12 and a sleeve spacer 30 positioned against the terminal spacer.Thinstrips of insulating material 31 are preferably positioned betweenthe terminals to minimize short circuiting therebetween with thematerial being mica, ceramic or other material that is capable ofwithstanding high temperature changes. The base, having the terminalssecured thereto and the insulating strips, is then fitted against theother end of the sleeve spacer 30 and the welding 16 is effected tothereby form the unitary electrical connector 10.

In use, the connector 10 is securedin the hole in the wall 11 by thewelding 13 and each terminal has a conducting wire 32 inserted throughthe corresponding hole in the base 15 into its tube 26 to substantiallythe end of the tube. A weld 33 secures the end of the conducting wire 32to the exterior end of the tube 26 and also seals the end of the tube.Accordingly, the connector now provides an electrical path from eachwire 32 to a tube 26 in a manner which is not only leakproof but iscapable of withstanding temperature changes over a wide range and isalso quite resistant to deformation in use.

The shell 12, base 15 and sleeve spacer 30 are formed of stainlesssteel; the strip insulators 31 may be formed of mica or aluminus ceramicstrips; and the sleeve 19, cap 25 and tube 26 may be formed of a highnickel content alloy such as nickel 200. The terminal spacer 28 isformed of the same electrically insulated material as the annulus 22which is a hardened composition having a minimum of 94 percent alumina.The metalizing portions 21 and 23 on the annulus may be moly manganesethat is nickel plated to assure that the welds 20 and 24 will have areceptive surface. The portions 21 and 23 are actually extremely thinbut are depicted quite thick in the drawing for clarity of illustration.

It will be understood that in the absence of the metalizing portions 21and 23 that the welds 20 and 24 would not wet the surface of the annulus22' and hence would not form a weld. Thus the space or gap 35 betweenthe two metalized portions of the annulus is not subjected to beingwelded and accordingly forms an electrical insulation portion betweenthose parts connected to the wire 32 (cap 25 and tube 26) and theremainder of the connector. The weld 13 may be formed of any materialwhich is compatible with the wall 11 and shell 12 while the welds 20, 24and 27 preferably use a brazing alloy consisting of gold nickel with theratio being approximately parts of gold to 1 part of nickel. The weldsat 16, 18 and 33 are made using heli arc welding or its equivalent.

It will accordingly be appreciated that there has been disclosed anelectrical connector which is capable of mating with other standardelectrical connectors but yet which is capable of being durable andleakproof even over a wide temperature range. The connector includes aplurality of terminals with each terminal including an alumina ceramicannulus which not only serves to provide for physical support betweenthe terminal and the connector body but also serves through a peripheralportion thereof to electrically insulate each terminal from theremainder of the connector thereby assuring that each terminal will beelectrically independent of the other terminals.

Variations and modifications may be made within the v scope of theclaims and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

We claim:

1. An electrical connector for providing a hermetically sealed leakproofelectrical connection through a wall over a wide temperature rangecomprising a tubular shell secured to the wall to have an interior endportion located on one side of the wall and an open exterior end portionon the other side of the wall, a base closing the interior end portionof the shell and having at least one hole, a terminal secured to thebase at the hole to project into the shell, said terminal including anelectrically insulating ceramic annulus having a through hole, meanssecuring one end portion of the annulus to the base, a cap welded to theother end portion of the annulus to form a sealed securement, a tubeextending through the through hole of the annulus and the cap, meanswelding said tube only to the cap and the through hole of the annulus toform a sealed securement, means for securing a conducting wire in thetube, and in which the means securing the annulus to the base and thecap are formed of electrical conducting material and in which they arespaced apart on the annulus to provide an electrically insulating gaptherebetween on the periphery of the annulus.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 in which there are a plurality ofterminals spaced about and connected to the base, and'in which a spacerformed of electrically insulating material is located within the shellto abut against the interior of the shell interiorly of the base andbeyond the cap of each terminal to provide mechanical support for theterminals by having an aperture through which a portion of the tube ofeach terminal extends with said aperture for each terminal being smallerthan the bottom of the cap of its associated terminal.

1. An electrical connector for providing a hermetically sealed leakproofelectrical connection through a wall over a wide temperature rangecomprising a tubular shell secured to the wall to have an interior endportion located on one side of the wall and an open exterior end portionon the other side of the wall, a base closing the interior end portionof the shell and having at least one hole, a terminal secured to thebase at the hole to project into the shell, said terminal including anelectrically insulating ceramic annulus having a through hole, meanssecuring one end portion of the annulus to the base, a cap welded to theother end portion of the annulus to form a sealed securement, a tubeextending through the through hole of the annulus and the cap, meanswelding said tube only to the cap and the through hole of the annulus toform a sealed securement, means for securing a conducting wire in thetube, and in which the means securing the annulus to the base and thecap are formed of electrical conducting material and in which they arespaced apart on the annulus to provide an electrically insulating gaptherebetween on the periphery of the annulus.
 2. The invention asdefined in claim 1 in which there are a plurality of terminals spacedabout and connected to the base, and in which a spacer formed ofelectrically insulating material is located within the shell to abutagainst the interior of the shell interiorly of the base and beyond thecap of each terminal to provide mechanical support for the terminals byhaving an aperture through which a portion of the tube of each terminalextends with said aperture for each terminal being smaller than thebottom of the cap of its associated terminal.